Jan's Blog

A Day in a Life: Who Are You?

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When my children were first born I stared at them intently as they lay in my arms, wondering who they would become.

“Who are you?” I asked. “Where have you come from? Why are you here? Why did I get you? Where are you going? Who are you going to be?”

I was fascinated by those tiny, helpless creatures who seemed to know everything, yet who could do nothing for themselves. I sensed they held all the mysteries of life, yet it was my responsibility to teach them about life. How could I teach those complete little beings anything! I could only offer them utter respect and love, knowing they held memories of things I had long ago lost touch with. New to the world, I saw them as fully in touch with all knowledge, so recently coming from the wellspring of all life.

Who are you?

From the moment of birth, I saw them as miniature adults, intelligent, intuitive, beautiful beings that I was charged with launching into life. While preparing them for whatever life held in store for them, I rarely stopped to think about the daunting task that it really was. With my intent already set, I plowed ahead, carrying them forward, aware most of the time that I was challenging them; that I was doing what they needed me to do. Now they’re both freshly graduated from college, looking for jobs, and they are indeed those intelligent, intuitive, beautiful beings I always saw them as. And yet, I still look at them with awe and wonder who they will become in the future.

Why did I get them? Why does anyone get the children they get? I no longer wonder why.

I believe our children are our opportunities to transform. We are constantly asked by them to face our fears while at the same time we are challenged to free them of us. We are challenged to free them of everything we hold onto, both that which we hold sacred and that which we fear, so they can become thoughtful, aware, evolving beings. We are charged with unburdening them so they can move on, totally free, unencumbered by our darkest secrets, our inhibitions, our rules, our agreements, and yes, our fears. I was conscious of this from the very minute I first set eyes on my children. Even if we don’t have children we are asked to face these challenges in all of our relationships, whether with partners, parents, siblings, co-workers, etc. We are all offered opportunities to transform.

When I whispered to them that I would do the best I could, I was promising them that I too would transform. Perhaps that was the moment when I set my intent to do a shamanic recapitulation. I don’t know for sure, because I was far from embarking on that journey, but something inside me knew that I must not burden those kids with me. I knew my biggest challenge was going to be setting them free of me, so they could become the beings they had the potential to become and the only way to do that was to face who I was. And I have indeed had to face my own fears as I raised my children.

My two children don’t even know it, but they have always been the impetus behind my own healing journey. I see them now for what they truly are: they are beings of recapitulation, having brought me to this point in my life, for they have constantly challenged me as much as I challenged them, and as much as I challenge myself.

When I worry about them, I know I must turn my eyes inward and work on my own reasons for that worry. I know I must ask myself to take the worry off them and use it to cleanse myself, sending them off with the freedom from me that they deserve. I refuse to burden them with me. Even so I know they will have to do their own work on shedding the mother they got, and in the meantime I give them permission to do so, to go out into the world and truly become who they are.

In continually facing who I am, in reflecting back onto myself what I project onto them, I ask myself to become who I truly have the potential to become as well. We are all here for many purposes, for many reasons, and for many challenges. We are all imbued with the potential that I first realized in my infants, when I first allowed that they did not really belong to me, but only to themselves. I knew my job was to bring them into life in the best way I could. I chose to do that with awareness.

When I see them sad, I ask myself: what is it in me that is sad? When I see them angry at the world, I ask myself: where is my anger? When I feel their disappointments, I must ask myself where my own disappointments are. I know I must resolve those issues in myself so we can all be free.

I ask only that they go into life and embrace it as their own, for life is ready to embrace them in return. I ask that they let me go, accepting me as a separate being on a separate journey, as much as I accept this truth about them.

As Jeanne suggested in Monday’s message, I use heart-centered breathing to send them on their journeys into the next stages of life—I use heart-center breathing and Tonglen too. I breathe in my worries and breathe out their full potential. I breathe in my fears and breathe out fearlessness for them. I breathe in my maternal instincts and breathe out their own maternal instincts and abilities to care for themselves.

I unburden them of me. I feel it is my greatest duty as their mother, to set them free, of me especially. I don’t own them. I love them and cherish them for who they are. I watch with awe as they launch into the world, as I once watched with awe as they first learned to roll over, to sit up, and as they stumbled through their first walking steps.

When people tell me I have great kids, I know they speak the truth.

“Yes, they are great kids,” I say, “because they are themselves!”

I still whisper the same words to them each day that I once whispered when they were infants: “Be yourself, be who you are. I can’t wait to see who you will be!”

I’m still fascinated as I watch them take their next steps—I’m just as fascinated by all the people I know and meet. I wonder: Who are you going to be?

Love to you all,
Jan

Messages from Jeanne

#772 Proceed With Awareness!

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Written by Jan Ketchel with a channeled message from Jeanne Ketchel.

My Tattered Peace Sign—reminds me of the inevitability of constant change

Dear Jeanne,

Today, I ask for guidance that all of us may navigate the coming week with awareness, that we may not get caught, but that we may flow—the energy within and the energy without synchronized, in balance, yet still moving forward in growth. I ask that we may all learn something transformational as we go through our week and that we are aware enough to grab onto our moments of enlightenment and ride them into a new place. I ask that you guide us all throughout the week, answering the calls of the many who seek you out and trust you, and the many who are learning that we are indeed guided through life. I ask that your readers not be too hard on themselves or full of blame, but that they look inward at why they are the way they are and find greater understanding of themselves through your guidance.

In general, I ask that you continue to stay beside us all as we continue our journeys. Our intent to grow is already firmly set—I believe we all made this decision a long time ago, before we were conscious of our present life’s journey. I ask that you offer each one of your readers a sure sign that they are on the right path as they go through their week, and the assurance that they will find what they need in whatever way is most meaningful. I ask all of these things on behalf of all your readers, as we enter another work week in a world that is spinning out of control, so far from connection with the true nature of kindness, compassion, and love for all, including self.

Here is Jeanne’s response:

My Dearest Ones,

Find solace in your own seeking hearts. Remain deeply introverted during this time of recapitulation, for this is indeed a time of questioning, of controversy, of falling into an old familiar place. Yet is it also a waiting period for a new phase of growth, for self, and for humanity as a whole.

In such times, the best process to engage in is the inner process. But the inner process must be clearly stated and clearly utilized for a final sweep of old issues. Rather than getting trapped in old places, as many are apt to do, this time of return to the deeper issues of self must be done with awareness.

Do you find yourself stuck, spinning your wheels, rehashing the same old issues and finding no resolution in your old methods of attack? If so, then you are caught.

In that case, step back. Look at the process you are engaging and note that it isn’t working. Don’t repeat it nor return to the same old self-judgments, but tell the self: Enough!

Shift away with awareness!

Ask the self to look in new directions for new answers. Pry the self out of the doldrums with heart-centered breathing, asking the self to breathe out the old stale air of familiar self and breathe in new air of change and enlightenment.

Do this throughout the day, as soon as you find yourself slipping onto an old habit, an old place of remorse, regret, resentment, anger, fear, judgment. Immediately shift away—literally turning your body—abruptly shifting and breathing out the old self and breathing in the new self. This is my guidance for this week.

As you breathe, you will discover exactly what you need. You will be tapping into the underlying intent of the energy of the world you now live in. Though it may seem out of control in so many ways, the truth is that it’s so necessary for change to happen. Your decisions, personal and otherwise, must now be in greater alignment with that ancient intent if you are to shift out of the places you have been stuck in for so long.

Align with the underlying current of inevitable change and begin to see progress. This means taking the personal inner journey of change, flowing along with the outer energy of change. The truth is that it is unstoppable.

The secret is that the inner energy and the outer energy are already in synch. You really have to do very little except wake up to the fact that this is true and get on board. In some way, everyone is being pushed now to change. Can you do it? Can you flow with the inevitable? Can you bear the tension of letting go of the old and flowing with all that is already in motion?

You just have to acquiesce to the available potent energy and take the ride it offers! With Awareness!

Thank you, Jeanne!

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Tricksta!

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What happens when we’re tricked? We’re trapped, caught in illusion.

The game of peek-a-boo is both exhilarating and terrifying for the baby. Suddenly you, the adult trickster, are gone—evaporated, disappearing into thin air. For the child, a moment of excitement, anxiety and anticipation ensues, and then joyful release at the sheer magic of you popping up again, out of nowhere! “Do it again! Do it again, and again!” More fear, anxiety, excitement, and utter exhilaration, please!

The trickster is magical, playing a mercurial game. The encounter with the trickster leads us onward to higher awareness. Eventually, we figure out the game: when you leave, when I can’t see you, you still exist, and your reappearance is no longer magical. This achievement is called object constancy. Peek-a-boo is no longer a game the child wants to play. Trickster can’t catch the child now. It’s boring. On to new tricksters—illusionists who both excite and terrify, but ultimately pose a challenge to move on to greater consciousness. In the broadest sense, trickster is the boundary-crosser, a being that challenges our complacency and security, and forces us to confront the deeper truths of reality.

And what are those truths? That life isn’t fair! That all kinds of possibilities exist in the universe, both good and evil and, ultimately, nothing can protect us from encountering those forces in some form. We must reckon with them, master them, and go deeper into life, deeper into the mystery.

Trickster or Tricksta?

Tricksters come in all forms, some are gentle and playful like the rabbit, the monkey, the fox, and the coyote, all found in legend and folklore. These are the tricksters we seek to adore, encounter, and learn from in childhood.

The truth is, tricksters come in many forms, and some may deliver lethal blows, to adults and yes, to children as well. Tricksters appeal to our innocence, that curious, open part of ourselves that trusts and seeks fun, play, attention, discovery, and love. Our innocence is drawn to the excitement the trickster brings, along with the tension of being caught, once again, by the trickster’s illusion.

Life without the trickster is too boring, stagnant, predictable, and routine.

The predatory trickster—what I here term “Tricksta,” following the slang term for gangster as “gangsta”—is the most challenging of all tricksters. Trickstas trap the innocent to feed their own predatory appetites. Trickstas are the most formidable of tricksters. Trickstas don’t care “if you live or if you die.” Each time I contemplated Tricksta this week, these lyrics triggered in my mind, an incessant replaying of the 1968 Steppenwolf version of The Pusher: “The Pusher don’t care, if you live or if you die.”

Innocence gets caught in addictions. Perhaps the innocence of exploration, adventure, or the innocent push of inflation, to be a hero—take the heroin plunge. Perhaps it’s the regressive push to soothe lost innocence in a chemically altered calm world where the demons of intense feeling are kept at bay. The pusher is the Tricksta that lures this innocence, then ensnares it, imprisons it, and feeds off it while it sleeps unknowingly in the poppy field. It’s always scary with addiction because Tricksta really doesn’t care if you live or if you die. If you’re to live you must awaken and release the self from the clutches of Tricksta. Free the self from the slumber of inertia and numbness. Tricksta drives a hard bargain. It’s all on you whether you resume the journey or perish.

That same predatory energy goes in search of the energy of children, trapping, tricking and manipulating their innocence. No child is a match for Tricksta’s trappings, though it might take a lifetime to stop blaming the self for the encounter. Tricksta is a deeply impersonal energy that challenges whomever it chooses to touch at the deepest level. Tricksta is indeed the darkest side of trickster. Tricksta has no mercy. Often the only defense is to forget childhood encounters with Tricksta. The benefit of forgetting is survival, the cost: lost innocence and guarded living.

At some stage in life, spirit knocks and announces to our adult selves that it’s time to resume the journey. This is the beginning of recapitulation, where the illusions of a lifetime, especially the past, are released along with Tricksta’s ancient grip.

Innocence is restored, older and wiser, with truth fully in hand. Time to go onto deeper, fuller adventures—real life adventures and fulfillment.

Don’t take it personally,
Chuck

Jan's Blog

A Day in a Life: Dream Guides

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During recapitulation, dreams may act as guides taking us deeper into our inner world, revealing repressed memory, stimulating senses, signifying where we need to go next. While undergoing my own recapitulation—a magical pass used by the Seers of Ancient Mexico to reclaim lost energy—I encountered lost parts of myself in my dreams. They had been sitting and waiting for me for years, to return and bring them into life. By coming forth to engage me in dreams those parts got my attention, often in striking ways. But it wasn’t until I was ready to fully accept that I was on a journey of significance, as we all are, that I woke up to what those dreams were trying to tell me.

Dreams allow us to explore our inner world without the overriding dominance of the mind and the judging personality, without the ego sticking its nose into an experience that may be transformative. Pay attention to your dreams, they may hold more than you think.

I once dreamed a situation that was, in fact, laying out my entire recapitulation process, showing me very clearly what was at the core of my discontent, laying out the future as well. In that dream, I encountered an aggressive figure that I recognized as being long dominant in my life. I lost all of my identification and wandered through unknown territory until I finally reached a place of peace. In fact, that was what happened to me as I began the journey of recapitulation within a short time after that. Portending my future, that dream opened the door to deeper exploration of who I was. In fact, “Why am I the way I am?” was the question I continually asked myself. I couldn’t fully answer it until I fully recapitulated.

The door to dreaming...facing fear

During recapitulation we do lose our identity, as my dream suggested. We shed all that we carry, things that we take on in our efforts to grow, as we struggle to be in the world, as well as burdens placed on us by others. We find ourselves continually freeing ourselves from old ideas and perceptions of ourselves and the world we live in, as we recapitulate. As we take the journey into the deeper self, we discover a new self. We are offered the opportunity to work our way into filling this new self with new ideas, thoughts, and perceptions. We are offered the possibility of fully taking on this new identity, one that is truly us. This may be a dream identity that we never imagined we could fully own. This may be a spiritual self we had distanced ourselves from. This may be an absolutely strange and amazing self, a magical self. We all have the opportunity to transform.

In wandering the strange lands of our dreamworld, with awareness, we’re offered access to our greatest potential. If we can dare ourselves to take a dream journey, facing our greatest fears in both our dreams and in real life, we offer ourselves the opportunity to totally transform. Some of those amazing dream worlds we’ve encountered while asleep are actually available to us in our everyday world as well. In taking hold of our dreams as significant participants in our journeys throughout life, we find the dreams themselves to be our most remarkable companions. Our dreams may be where our fullest potential is accessed, where our deepest issues are revealed, and where our past, current, and future challenges and potential lie.

In experiencing our dreams as our innermost caring and supportive guides, we may more quickly wake up to our true journeys. What path is your dream pointing out to you? Who visited you last night to show you where to go next, what to do, and how to go about it? I find great meaning and pertinent information in my dreams. Indeed, by paying attention to them I gave myself the opportunity to change. And don’t forget, our dreams may approach us while we are awake or asleep.

The importance of the recapitulation process reveals itself every day, in the work Chuck and I do, in the communications we receive, and in our own lives. We personally use the practice of recapitulation constantly, in pursuit of our greatest potential; always more to learn, to explore, and access. Our journeys are endless, our spirits constantly nudging us to keep going. In fact, anything that appears in our lives may actually be trying to alert us to something special and important about ourselves and our true direction in life.

There are indeed many ways to transform, and indeed recapitulation is really a natural process that we all engage in all the time: in remembering, in experiences, in thoughts, in illnesses, in repetitive habits and behaviors, in our choices and decisions, in the kinds of things we elect to avoid or pursue and yes, in our dreams. Do we dare to call life itself “recapitulation?” Do we dare to fully embrace our spirit’s call and give it a structure with a name? Are we really so daring as to go all the way to transformation? That is what we are challenged with really. Our spirits ask us every day: “Are you coming with me? Are you ready today?

In a few weeks, I intend to have the first volume of my book The Recapitulation Diaries available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book. One does not need to have a Kindle device in order to download e-books. Free apps and tools are available for all kinds of devices including phones, computers, and ipads. We’ll have all of that info available when the time comes. We’ve decided that we won’t be publishing a paperback copy at this time as I intend to immediately jump into working on the second volume. That being said, my greatest hope is that my book will aid others, showing what it means to recapitulate in the context of everyday life, offering the tools to undergo a shamanic practice in full awareness.

Dream on. And remain aware: dreams are just waiting to be fulfilled. What dream do you have that is knocking at the door? May you find your way to it, in whatever way works. Recapitulation is only one way, I know that, but I can only say that for me, it is the only way. Nothing else works. I always knew there were other worlds available to me. I just didn’t know how to get into them. Recapitulation, as a tool to transforming myself and the world I choose to live in, offers me total access.

Much love,
Jan

Messages from Jeanne

#771 Experience Fluidity

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Written by Jan Ketchel with a channeled message from Jeanne Ketchel.

Once again Jeanne speaks of the importance of understanding ourselves as energy, but this time in order to reach a new kind of balance in our lives. Here is the conversation I had with her during today’s channeling, an energetic act to be sure. She starts out by saying:

“I am a being who is going to die, but first I must truly live. Sound familiar?” she asks.

“Yes, it does,” I reply. “The first part comes from the Seers of Ancient Mexico and the second part is what I used to tell myself in an effort to fully embrace life without reluctance and being inhibited by fear, at one time my faithful companion. Why do you offer us this statement today?”

“Between these two extremes of death and life,” she says, “one must find the balance necessary to maintain presence in your world. Balance is the key.”

“Yes, I understand that,” I reply. “To think about death all the time is moribund and to focus only on living life to the fullest is perhaps irresponsible. Is that what you mean?

Life and death in the energy of the hive.

“In a sense,” she says. “First one must, in order to achieve balance while in your world, be reminded of death on a daily basis. But this does not need to come in a moribund way, but as a natural part of life. Just as nature decays and changes daily so do human beings need to face their own changing selves. Just as the animals live with death always present so does man, though he chooses to pretend otherwise. Death is as natural as life. Death is life. They are the same state, both are states of energy.”

“In discovering and pondering what it means to constantly be in a state of energy is what must be learned and understood. Only in complete acceptance of the self as an energetic being will one be able to accept the natural consequences of life and death as two similar aspects of being.”

“Yes, you are a being who is going to die. Yet are you an energetic being—always. In life as in death are you thus. Can you now find a sense of balance in your existence?” she asks.

“Yes,” I say, “but I feel it differently when I consider myself only as energy. Then I’m fluid, but most of the time I’m human, weighty, full of the things of human existence. But when I’m fluid, everything, every situation is of similar quality. None is more intense or powerful than another, all situations, life and death included, ease gently into each other so they are no longer separate states but the same. That’s how I experience it. Is that what you’re getting at?”

“All states of being,” Jeanne replies, “are the same. All beings are the same: states of energy. As you experience, all states of energy are similar, thus your awareness, if reminded of this often enough, may free you to live a more balanced life more often. You can be energetically balanced, energetically unafraid, energetically more fluidly alive, right now.”

She goes on to say: “Remain attached to the concept of the self as an energetic being in constant flux. In fluidity is there acceptance of self and others. In fluidity is there acceptance of all states of being, including the self out of balance. All humans must struggle with balance. It is part of being human. All humans must struggle with thoughts that bind, dismiss, doubt, and fear. Thoughts even fear their own loss. Thoughts alone, however, do not exist except in the mind. They are trapped energy. Once released into the energy of balance, into the fluid energy of all things they no longer hold power or import.”

“I ask you all, My Dear Readers,” she instructs, “to let the self go into an experience of fluidity today and at least once each day for the rest of your lives. Train yourself to let go of your fears of death, your fears of life, your fears of failure, your fears of the self and your fears of others. Experience a moment of fluidity, however brief, of the self freed of human form. With nothing attaching you to that world, allow a complete letting go.”

“And how do you achieve that, you might ask? Free yourself by feeling the self as energy. Nothing matters at this moment. Nothing holds you to your mind’s busy work. Nothing attaches to you, for you are fluid energy, the same as all beings—fluid, balanced, eternal energy. That’s who you really are!”

“Take that knowledge into your day, practice it, use it to anchor you and remind you that you are a being who is going to die, but first you must truly live—as energy!”

Thank you Jeanne!

Chuck Ketchel, LCSWR